Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1887-11-02
A SENSATION EXPLODED.

A SENSATION EXPLODED.
This is an age OF sensations. The aver.
age man thinks a day lost that does not
produce one at least. The resignation OF a
ministry. q new gold discovery, a railroad
disaster, another street car company in
the field, are legitimate excitements which
may be exaggerated with hyperbole until
magnifed beyond proportion to the detri-
ment Of none. But there are sensations
that journalists and men in authoritative
position should avoid when they hear
them and omit mention of until their
truth can be ascertained beyond the
shadow of a doubt.
On Thursday evening the Health Officer
OF the city presented to the Council and
supported in extended remarks a sugges-
ton that the drinking water which was
being furnished to the city OF Butte was
contaminated BY sipage from the cemetery
lying west of the newly located water.
works. This was a very grave suggestion
to make. The Health Officer did not di.
rectly charge that the water which the big
Knowles pump was sending through the
city mains was contaminated. He gave it
as his opinion from superficial OBJ
servation OF the lay of the
land. what he knew OF the porous character
OF the soil in the cemetery and what he
could learn OF well digging thereabouts that
there was room for doubt as to the source
OF supply and that it was the duty OF the
Council to set at rest the doubts he had
raised.
This is q character of sensation.raieing
that is legitimate in only n instance-be-
fore the water is in use. Then it would be
c~ommendable. No unpleasant qualms Of
misgiving would be raised in the water-con-
.sumer's mind. No one would be frightened.
An inquiry could be conducted with all the
necessary minuteness of investigation and
the fact Of the truth or groundlessness of
the doubt as to the purity OF the water to
be consumed established before it is in
use.
But such a suspicion should never have
found public expression after the water
was in general use. Nothing short of alb
solute certainty upon the subject should
then be allowed to find public expression.
The Health Officer Of the city should have
verified his suspicious by proof beyond the
slightest possibility of cavil before he I
breathed a word or the subject to anybody.
He should be the last man in the communi-
ty to cry "Wolf!" when there are no wolves /
in sight.
Elsewhere will be found the result of the
investigation Of the subject by re-
porter of The MINER, includ-
ing an interview with Mr.. Julian
Smith, who personally supervised the dig
Water Company's pump draws it's supply.
The simple Statements OF the fact that the
water tapped at the bottom of this we'll
rises to Il surface higher than Black Tail !
Creek ia itself sufficient to show that it has |
no connection with surface sipage at all. |
This OF itself utterly reiutes the Health o. |
fcer's suggestion that there is the slightest
contact between the drainage from the
cemetery, or anywhere else in the neighbor-
hood, with the source of supply 81 the Sill
yer Bow Water Company.
In addition to this. Mr.. Smiths state.
ment hi the bed OF gravel below which the |
spring is tapped is overlaid with a bed OF \
clay twelve feet thick is proof additional
that the surface water is more completely
guarded from contact with the sources of
supply OF the Silver Bow Water Company
than it the latter were overlaid by a rock
formation. The latter might nave crevices
or cracks through which it would be posi-
BILE for the surface water to sipe; a twelve.
foot clay formation is impervious.
The well at the waterworks is twenty feet
deep; the water in it is OF a crystal purity.
and has been used constantly by the men
working there since it was first dug without
the least injurious effects. A well was sunk
a hundred and fifty yards southeast OF it,
which Immediately filled to the surface.
well at the waterworks was pumped
empty to put in a crib at the mouth OF the
from which it is filled, and the water
in the well a hundred and fifty feet awav
vas not diminished in the least.
The Health Officer might have learned
have seen it by actual inspec- :
have acquainted himself with I
he facts as soon as the doubts as to the '
purity OF the water supply OF this city sug- d
'ested themselves to him. Then, in place T
II creating general uneasiness for which v
here is no foundation in fact, be would '
ave been Able to calm unnecessary alarm Il
n the minds Of Others. who, needlessly. n
"mp'ained to him OF the quality oil the =
'ater, and mistakenly imagined that sick p
ess in their family was traceable tosthat|
ause.
1t is very easy to create an alarm in the ii
ublic mind. A mere ineinuation is enough c.
, put the most acute approximations in W
10 average hearers mind. Nothing more p
Irectly affects the health of a community N
impure water-nothing will SO surely hi
ster people from coming to live in a town S,
ian an impression that the water supply W
the least tainted. The Health Officer N
done this city very little service in the re
'edless alarm he has created and he cam fr
too quickly and earnestly set about d.
,doing the disastrous effects of it in the is
me public way in which he created it. ye
he water furnished at present to the peo- wi
Q OF Butte is as pure and innocuous a
verage as is furnished any other city in
e United States, and the most critical bo
alyeis by the most competent chemist do
the land will. the company are confident, tw
~ confirm the statement. er
sci
FAIRLY OPENED. fro
70 say the least, it was d%iscourteous on vic